


The Four Days of Dedede's Christmas

by AgtCosmic



Category: Kirby (Video Games)
Genre: Christmas, Christmas Fluff, Christmas Party, Fluff, Fluff without Plot, Friendship, Here's to finishing fics from 2016, Quartet Moments
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-23
Updated: 2020-12-24
Packaged: 2021-03-11 00:48:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 13,225
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28276341
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AgtCosmic/pseuds/AgtCosmic
Summary: Because Meta Knight insisted that 'D' was the fourth letter of the alphabet, Kirby thought that three was better for the three 'D's in Dedede's name, and Bandana Dee insisted that an old song said there were eleven days. …And 'four' was chosen by Dedede for the sake of spiting Kirby.
Comments: 5
Kudos: 17





	1. Cooking

There were quite a few nice things in your life if you were a worker at one of Dedede's several castles throughout Dream Land. Outside of the spare time, the labor being fairly simple, the absolute cleanliness and spotlessness of living with a tribe or two of Waddle Dees, the free electricity, and the endless snacks and food, the king of Dream Land also enjoyed decorating for events and holidays. While Dedede had always loved this, it seemed that there were more and more holidays as time went on, and as the king matured.

First, they'd celebrated Dedede's birthday. Then they celebrated the anniversary of his kingship. And the anniversary of Dream Land being properly founded. Next, he'd decided that he should throw a party to celebrate his workers. After that came a celebration to accompany the village harvest festivals. The Dees thought that surely, it would end there.

It didn't end there. The king was always looking for more parties, and one adventure was all it took to push the king to start celebrating holidays relevant to his friends, now that the lot of them had grown much closer. He celebrated Bandana Dee's birthday, and then he assigned Kirby and Meta Knight birthdays and forced the puffs to follow along with them and attend their parties. He celebrated the longest day of the year in the heat of summer, and the shortest day of the year at winter solstice. There were parties in the dead of summer, when there weren't any special occasions, just for the opportunity to throw a party and decorate stuff. He was even willing to celebrate _Pi Day_ , solely for the sake of cooking desserts…though admittedly, he'd started to grow bored when Meta Knight insisted that they do some calculus and trigonometry to complete the day. Whatever the circumstances, there certainly seemed to be a lot of holidays that the king celebrated.

So of course, Christmas holidays were no exception, complete with the extended period of time that the decorations and food were to remain as 'normal'—well, as normal as one could get for Castle Dedede. The Christmas decorations went up exactly fifty days before the holiday, as opposed to the Candy Day decorations, which went up thirty-seven days before the event. It was quite fortunate that there were enough Waddle Dees to complete the decorating on the exact day necessary; they'd never missed a date.

Which was why their Great King was already in the kitchen, squabbling over cookies with his companions.

"Give me that frosting back, Kirby! Bandana, what are you doing, anyway? Meta, _where are you?!"_ Something sapphire slipped off a slick countertop, falling onto the floor along with a puffball-sized container of milk. The king ran over to the disaster, lifting the humongous milk jug off the stunned puffball as the white liquid pooled around him. "Bandana, are you ready for the— _STOP EATING MY FROSTING, KIRBY!_ Here's the milk, Bandana! Uh, thanks for bringing it to us, Meta."

Meta Knight had sat up at this point, but was still dazed. The puff had an unfortunate habit of any blow he took landing on his forehead, and he still had milk in his eyes. Regardless, ignoring his king would be rude. "I'll clean this up, your Majesty…"

Dedede grinned. "Hey, thanks! Anyway—" His attention snapped back to Kirby, who had pried the lid off a plastic frosting can and was currently peeling the foil wrap off the top. The penguin quickly swooped in and snatched the container away from the pink puffball. "Ohhh no you don't! Get out of there! Keep your pink, stubby paws off the ingredients!"

The king gathered Kirby under his armpit, marching back over to the counter and placing the frosting back where it belonged. Kirby didn't seem particularly upset over this; instead of the frosting, he started searching for something he could easily inhale when the king wasn't looking.

Oh wait. There _was_ something he could inhale here, that would be helpful!

The pink puff waited until the king turned back in Meta Knight's direction, then opened his mouth and directed his focus toward the puddle of milk. Meta Knight quickly grabbed roll of paper towels he'd been about to use and held them to the side. When all was done, there was no trace of milk on the floor, the sideboards, or Meta Knight. Despite this, the sapphire puffball seemed disgusted. He looked Kirby right in the eyes, ignoring his king's shocked stare at the pink puff.

"Thank you. But honestly, Kirby…off the _floor_?" Meta Knight criticized. "You'd better not eat that. Your Majesty, if you'd hold him by the sink—"

"I got it; I got it, Meta. You don't need to tell me." Dedede strolled over to the sink and held his rival over it. Kirby spit out a bubble filled with milk, which instantly popped the moment it touched the sink. Milk splashed against the sink as Dedede released the pink puffball. "Thanks though, Kirby."

Kirby smiled. "I would've eaten it, but Meta's too much of a clean freak. But anyway, you're welcome, Dedede-Dedede-Dedede!"

"Ahhhhhhhhhhh NO!" Dedede slammed his fist down on the counter. "We are NOT going there! How would you like it if I called you 'Kirby-Kirby-Kirby', huh?"

"Hey Dedede-Dedede-Dedede," Bandana Dee called, grabbing the king's attention. "Can you help me out here?"

The penguin and both puffballs wandered over to the king's best Dee. Dedede leaned over his advisor's bandana. "What're you doin'?"

Bandana Dee was trying his hardest to beat the eggs…which were already in a bowl with several of the other ingredients. "I got distracted by you guys screaming, and I forgot that most recipes have you beat the eggs separately before you dump them in the bowl. Now what should I do?"

Meta Knight raised his paw. "How about—"

"Beat them in this bowl anyway," Dedede suggested, reaching for the fork in Bandana Dee's hand. "Here, let me try it. I'll mix _everything_ in this bowl up; just you wait."

Bandana Dee reluctantly released the edge of the bowl, watching it almost protectively. "Um, Great King, do you know anything about cooking yourself?"

The king shrugged his shoulders. "Nope. Not whatever _you're_ baking. I don't know what you're doing in here; I'm just stirring it. I'm pretty awesome at cooking when I know what I'm making, though. What ARE you making, anyway? Where are the directions?"

"Here are the directions." The sapphire puffball offered the sheet of paper to his king. "As highly intelligent beings, you all _did_ put the butter and sugar in one bowl apart from the others…correct?"

Dedede's eyes widened slightly, and he stepped back to stare at Kirby and Bandana Dee. The king's best Dee stared into the bowl, an expression of dismay creeping across his face.

"Great King…" the Dee began. "You, uh…do realize I'm more of a grill cook than a pastry chef, right? Eheh…heheheh…?"

"Who needs directions?" The pink puffball grabbed a large mixing spoon and swallowed it, gaining the Cook ability. "I can fix it with magic!"

"Oh, if only all of life's problems could be solved so easily," Meta Knight muttered under his breath, though he was sure that none of the others paid much attention to his comment.

"You have too many life problems, Meta," Dedede said, glancing over his shoulder from spectating Kirby's cooking wizardry. The sapphire puffball merely gave him a flat expression in return.

Meanwhile, Kirby had transformed his usual soup pot into a star-powered oven. Several bowls full of mixture, a few of which were bowls that the quartet had already been preparing, were being dumped and flung onto pans at a truly extraordinary rate of speed—likely because they were hovering in the air as they did so; Kirby's hands were full with mixing things up. The rest of the quartet could only watch in awe as several racks of pastries landed neatly on the countertops. Which, he might add here, that the countertops were somehow sparkling clean whenever the food landed on them. Truly, puffball magic.

…which meant that it was either Kirby using his chef's dishrag, or Meta Knight being a neat freak. A puffball cleaned it up either way.

Meta Knight stared at the food prepared with a rather flat expression. "Well. I thought we were supposed to _collaborate_ on preparing them?"

Kirby paused for a moment, guilt flashing across his face. "Uh…" He reached for the trays. "Uh, I can eat them real fast, and we can cook them again!"

"NO." The other members of the quartet, despite having mixed feelings on the development, could all agree that 'no' was the only thing that needed to be said on the issue.

"If _you're_ gonna eat 'em, why not share any with me?" Dedede asked, annoyed. The penguin king started examining the pastries, trying to identify which one was the largest. Unfortunately, magic had made them all equally proportioned, so he was having a rather hard time of things.

"Y-Yeah Kirby; just because we didn't get to help make them doesn't mean we don't want them!" Bandana Dee chimed in, investigating them himself.

Kirby gazed down upon his confections. "Hey Meta, do you want yours, or can I have them?"

The sapphire puffball appeared out of nowhere beside him. "Why would I turn down free pastries, Kirby? Not only that, it would be rude to deny your kindness."

"I think he just wants the sweets," Dedede commented, his mouth half-full of an éclair. Meta Knight merely gave him a flat stare.

"Believe whatever you want."

"Um…Dedede?"

The king stared down at the little pink puffball. "What?"

Kirby produced a rack of gingerbread shapes on a platter— _plain_ gingerbread shapes. _Undecorated_ gingerbread shapes.

"Did you REALLY think that you'd get out of here without cooking anything yourself? Well you got to help cook before I fixed the batches up, and now you guys can still help decorate these! C'mon guys, don't you still wanna have fuuuuun?~"

While Bandana Dee and Meta Knight perked up with interest, Dedede's face was one of jaw-dropping shock. "Wha…How did you save all those without us seeing them?!"

Kirby's cheerful, oblivious expression shifted instantly to one of hesitance. Dedede was quite confused. …until he saw the look Meta Knight was giving the pink puffball.

"Uhhh. Magic," Kirby answered, really hoping to blow the topic off before Meta Knight remembered what happened the last time he let pink puffballs borrow precious belongings of his. "Anyway, it's frosting time! Do you have the frosting, Dedede-Dedede-Dedede?"

"Huh? Uhhh…"

The king searched the countertops for the frosting. Then he checked his pockets. His final option was glaring at a pink puffball. "Kirby, what did you do with it?" he growled. "I had it until YOU started messing with it!"

"I don't have it." Kirby frowned, spreading out his paws to show that no, he wasn't hiding the frosting behind his back, or in his frying pan. This did nothing to appease his king, however.

Dedede lifted his traditional wooden hammer out of his robe. "I don't believe THAT, you little thief. You hand it over right now, pinky!"

Kirby dodged as the large hammer swung at him horizontally. He pulled out a frying pan and tossed it, hoping to land a hit on the king. Dedede dodged, letting the pan clatter to the floor before he stepped on it. Unfortunately, this had been one of the pans that Kirby had out during his 'cooking show', and it was still fairly hot. Kirby giggled as the penguin shouted in surprise, pulling out a spatula as his food rival drew closer. The cherry puffball spun across the clean countertops, twirling the spatula like a baton every time he managed to dodge a swing from the hammer.

"Nya! Try to catch me, fat penguin! Can't you—" Kirby had to leap particularly high to dodge the next attack. It almost connected with the pink puffball—and it almost connected with the fancy cabinets, too. "Can't you guess where I'm going to dodge by now? We—" The puff flattened himself to a thickness similar to a sheet of paper as the hammer sailed by above him, knocking off his hat. "We've been BEST FRIENDS for such a LONG TIME now, haven't we?!" Kirby slipped down to the floor as Dedede tried to grab him with his hands. "You LOVE me, Dedede-Dedede-Dedede! You LOVE ME! Kirby!"

Meta Knight and Bandana Dee held the missing cookie toppings unsuspiciously behind their backs, watching the two friends-slash-rivals battle it out over who was 'lying'. Technically, neither of them were.

"Should we tell them that we have them now?" Bandana Dee whispered to the sapphire puff. "I feel kinda guilty about this…"

Meta Knight's smile grew a little wider as Dedede's hammer collided with the floor, only for Kirby to dodge and jump into the king's robe. Dedede shook his robe around angrily, shouting profanity at the puffball as Cook Kirby generated several flaky pastry crusts inside his sleeves, which promptly crumbled into a massive amount of sticky crumbs.

"No. This is quality entertainment." Meta Knight popped the top off the frosting container and dipped his paw inside. "Would you like any? As a popcorn substitute?"

Bandana Dee's eyes widened at seeing the knight pull the container out in full view of their friends' heated debate over it. "Meta, _no_! What are you think—"

"I got iiiiiit!" Kirby shouted, spying the can and hopping toward it. "Dedede-Dedede-Dedede, let's go!"

The oversized penguin snatched up Kirby mere centimeters away from Meta Knight's frosting-covered paws. He pulled the pink puff under his arm to glare threateningly at his two top employees, towering over them. Meta Knight and Bandana Dee shrank back, uncertain of what would happen next—uncertain of what would happen to _them_. This was still on friendly terms, right? Right?

"Why you two little con artists…" the king hissed. "If you two hadn't been my buddies, I would've been really angry at you guys…Making me fight a battle in my kitchen when I didn't even need to? Making me smack around a pink fluffball with a hammer? Shame on you!"

It was clear that his tone had lightened up as he went along, so the duo on the floor did not say a word. This didn't stop Kirby from saying a word, however.

"But you never hit me," Kirby commented.

Dedede shoved his hand in the puff's mouth.

"Come on, you guys…" The penguin motioned toward a smaller, Dee-and-puffball-sized table with a king-sized space open near the end. There were plenty of supplies on the table, like frosting knives, candies, and gumdrops. Dedede used his free hand to lift one of the cookie trays and set it down on the tiny table. "Let's stop fighting and get to the eating—er, decorating, okay?"

At the thought of food, both puffballs instinctively drooled. Fortunately, no one noticed.

…No one noticed until Dedede felt something similar to puffball drool seeping through his glove, that is.


	2. Bandana Dee

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bandana Dee tries to go home for Christmas. (Too bad he'll just be dragged back in the final chapter anyway.)

"Great King! Great King? Great King, where are you? Great King!"

Dedede followed his advisor's voice down the hallway it was echoing from, trying to find the Dee and resolve whatever it was he needed. Then it occurred to him that he could probably just shout back, and the Dee would find him first. "BANDANAAAAA! I'm right here!"

It took barely half a minute before the Dee was standing in front of him, with a Christmas hat on his head, and plenty of decorations stacked on top of it. In his paws, the Dee held a clipboard with a blue bandana tied to the top, holding several colors of pens and markers in it. Perhaps it was a makeshift pencil case? "Great King! Allow me to update you on the status of the decorations!"

Dedede blinked. "You've been tracking all that stuff? You didn't need to do any of that. Especially _you_. I have better things I could've given you to do."

"I…" The Dee shuffled back and forth on his feet, and Dedede suddenly remembered that Waddle Dees loved cleaning and decorating places. "I know, but—for inventory purposes, we have to know how many of each decorations we have to put in each box, to make sure that all the items are put up before New Year—"

"Yes, yes. Good job, Bandana." The king bent down to pat the Dee on the head. "I didn't have any other work for you to do anyhow. Now, you don't need to give me a report, but I'm glad you're still helping…off the clock. Bandana, I said you had time off to go visit your family this week. I know you aren't gonna do it unless I clear you, so I cleared you, and you're still here now. I'm not too happy about that." He scooped the Dee up in one arm and separated him from the clipboard. "C'mon, Dee; you're gonna go pack. I _command_ you to be out of this castle by sunset. Which is earlier this month, by the way."

"Wh…Thank you, Great King." Bandana Dee stared longingly at the clipboard, a safe distance away in the king's other hand. "B-But, I can pack on my own—"

"Huh? You think I'm gonna pack for you?" Dedede made a face at him. "I'm not gonna do that, and I don't even know what you're bringing. I hope you have some presents for your family ready to roll, though. Don't you usually bring them something?"

The Dee's eyes widened. "Great King! Thank you, I almost forgot that!" Bandana Dee scrambled to get out of the king's arms. He was relatively unsuccessful. "Great King, let me goooo…I need to go pack!"

As the duo reached the hallway where Bandana Dee's room was, Dedede let his arm relax. The Dee rocketed out of the king's grasp and dashed over to his room, flying inside without even closing the door. Dedede followed closely behind him, watching what his advisor threw into his backpack. Most of his subjects didn't need clothes, so their packing was relatively easy. Instead, Bandana Dee threw in a few spare bandanas, a small knife, a fishing rod and some bait, some oatmeal bars from the king's kitchen, materials for a one-Dee tent, his Christmas hat (which, Dedede noticed, was a band with little foam-and-felt animal horns on it. What animal did they come from? Maybe it was part of a Dee holiday legend or something?), some water, and his family's presents. Of course, he hadn't wrapped the presents yet, so he had to take them back out. The Dee muttered a few things in his native language as he flew around, gathering items.

Dedede leaned over his advisor's shoulder, watching him wrap the presents. Bandana Dee's gifts were a basket full of fruit from the other side of Popstar, a pack of ropes in various sizes, and two books with various pictures in them. The first book was titled 'Skies of Popstar: Birds and other Flying Friends'. The second appeared to be a detailed guide on various kinds of plants from the five corners of the planet. Dedede peeled off some pieces of tape for the Dee as he continued to wrap the presents.

"Thanks, Great King." Bandana Dee sighed, slowing down slightly. If his mouth had been visible, the king could have seen him smiling. "I guess I just need to calm down a little. But I can't wait to see my family again."

After being invited to one of Bandana Dee's annual family parties, he'd gotten to know the Dee's family a little better. "Is the fruit for your mom?"

Bandana Dee brightened. "Yeah! And the rope's for my dad, and—"

"And the books are for Silva," Dedede finished knowingly. Bandana Dee looked slightly embarrassed.

"I already apologized for her…mauling you, Great King…"

"You don't have to worry about that. But if you want to apologize, take Kirby to her instead."

Bandana Dee had a younger sister named Silva who enjoyed science and biological studies, and spent her days out in the fields studying the various species that lived on Popstar. Upon the king's first visit to his advisor's family, the little Dee had thrust herself upon him, asking him what planet he came from, what 'biome' he lived in, what sort of food he ate, how his feathers grew, and a hundred other questions. Dedede had allowed Silva to spend no more than an hour with him as he tried to answer the questions he understood, and let her observe his feathers. Even then, she'd spent the rest of the visit doting on him because he was blue and had blue eyes. He could see her fascination, as Waddle Dees didn't have blue eyes or fur, but he'd felt as if she was almost stalking him. Ever since that episode, Dedede had been trying to get Kirby invited to Bandana Dee's house, hoping that the same thing would happen to him.

Dedede's phone suddenly emitted a short, electronic jingle from a Splatoon movie titled ' _Secret Agent 3_ '. Bandana Dee stared up at the king curiously, wondering who had sent him a message.

**(ST_Meta: Some JERK is keeping his best advisor holed up in his room, when he should have left to see his family approximately 3 hours and 56 minutes ago. How selfish.)**

Dedede's eyes narrowed. He could suddenly think of someone else who deserved to be sent to Silva.

**(BIG D: Shut up Meta.)**

"Who was that?" Bandana Dee asked. "I've never heard that jingle before…"

Dedede shrugged. "No one; it's just Meta being a jerk."

"Oh."

Bandana Dee said nothing more on the issue. The king having arguments with his employees was rather commonplace due to his nature, so he tried to ignore most of them. Instead, he directed his attention back to finishing the presents.

"Great King, I…Thanks for giving me this time off. I really appreciate it."

"Hey, no problem. Just be back in time, okay?" The king rested his hand on the Dee's shoulder—or at least, as close as he could get to it. "You take good care of your family, Bandana. At least do it for me."

Bandana Dee's face fell, and he stopped preparing presents to turn back toward his king. "G…Great King, I'm—I'm sorry I always leave you at the holidays—"

"No! No…" Dedede held a hand up, offering the Dee more tape. His advisor reluctantly accepted it. "…Well…Bandana, I was selfish to keep you here in the past. It's not your fault I don't have anyone left here for me."

Maybe he shouldn't have said anything. He didn't want Bandana Dee to dwell on this while he was on vacation with his family, nor did he want to sound pampered and whiny. But the penguin _missed_ spending time with his family; two decades had passed, but that twinge of nostalgia had just never faded. Who did he have to spend time with at the holidays? Well, besides—

"Um…Great King, Kirby and Meta Knight aren't doing anything this year, as always. Maybe you could get together with them…?"

…Besides the puffballs. Kirby and Meta Knight were also aliens whose families had died; it was something they had in common, it seemed. Though, Dedede was only an alien in species—his parents were from another planet, but the king himself had been born and raised on Popstar. It was _sort of_ the same, but…not entirely. Kirby and Meta Knight were of a rare species whose planet had been destroyed when they were toddlers. The duo had probably landed on Popstar out of luck and desperation to escape the massacre inflicted on their kind. Dedede's parents came to the planet with the intention of settling down and raising a family, and just happened to see the opportunity for power. His home planet of penguins was still perfectly alive and unscathed, should he ever decide that he wanted to 'go home' and visit.

But, like the puffballs…Dedede didn't have anything on his planet to really 'go back to'. Sure, his planet wasn't obliterated, and his kind was still alive, but…he wasn't affiliated with any of them. He hadn't grown up with any of them, and he'd never even set foot on the planet before. Why would he? He was King of Dream Land and Beyond; on his home planet, there were no special roles for him to fill. Nothing spectacular about him at all. The only thing on his planet that was different from Popstar was a bunch of other creatures that looked like him. Otherwise, it was probably just another coast, backed by another meadow, which led further inland, inhabited by various other native creatures. There would be some fruits and other tropical plant life, and some fish, but other than that…

…That was probably it. It was very likely that his home here on Popstar had more to offer than his 'home' planet. Besides…it was his 'home' on Popstar that he missed. Being in the castle with his mother and father, playing games…

Dedede sighed. "I don't regret things, Bandana, but…even with Kirby and Meta Knight here, that won't stop me from glancing over my shoulder and wishing mom and King Dad were here." He sat down on the floor in Bandana Dee's room, smiling wistfully. "You know, mom and dad would've loved seeing you guys with me. They promised that they'd give me some little brothers, you know? …Well, you wouldn't know. You'd be too young. But, mom and dad loved kids. If we could've had you, and Meta, and—" The king tried to frown, but failed to show any genuine displeasure. "—Kirby together when I was a kid, my parents would've spoiled you guys to death. There was so much that we could've done together…Uh, don't get the wrong idea! My parents played with me and spent time with me! But, I know Meta said he didn't have anyone to play with when he was younger, and you and Kirby like to go fishing all the time…I wanted to play and go fishing; we could do that together!"

Bandana Dee blinked, sticking a bow on Silva's present. "Great King, we can do that any time you'd like, you know…Although you have to be _quiet_ when you're fishing, and you can't move a lot. But I'm sure Meta and Kirby would play with you if you asked them…"

"I don't wanna ask Kirbyyyyyy…" Dedede complained. "He has a bunch of friends already and it's not like he's my uber-super-best-friend or anything. Plus, it's embarrassing to hang out with a vacuum cleaner all day. He eats everything."

That expression on the Dee's face…Did Bandana Dee think he was bluffing by saying that? Or that he was just stating it out of obligation? How dare he?! Dedede most CERTAINLY didn't enjoy being in the pink puff's presence! He would _never_ allow the puffball to come back to Christmas dinner again and sit on his fine dining room table!

Bandana Dee hoisted his backpack over his shoulders, heading past Dedede for the door. "Well, Great King…I'm sorry about your family—"

"Bandana, don't worry about that." Dedede waved his hand, making a disgusted face. "Don't waste your vacation thinking on that. I've got people I can hang out with for the holidays. Go and _ENJOY_ yourself, Bandana!" He gave the Dee a little push down the hallway. "Enjoy yourself, 'cause if you aren't enjoying yourself, I'll just order you back here to finish some report generation!" The penguin stomped his foot. "Now get out! That's my highest order today!"

"Y-Y-Y-Yes, Great King!" Bandana Dee scrambled down the hall, being pursued by his king to make sure that he really _was_ leaving the castle. The Dee scooted down a few flights of stairs and burst out of the main doors, dashing toward the drawbridge. Dedede stopped in the castle entrance, waving goodbye to his advisor.

"GOODBYE, BANDANA DEE! MERRY CHRISTMAS!" the king shouted. "BRING ME BACK SOMETHING, YOU HEAR?!"

"Acknowledged, Great King!" Bandana Dee yelled back. "And merry Christmas to you too!"

The Dee was soon out of the king's sight, headed back toward his village of Waddle Dees. Headed back to his _family_.

Dedede's face turned neutral as he walked back inside, admiring the decorations on the walls. Everything was beautiful, but…some things seemed as if they were the same as from his childhood. The certain place a certain banner was hung, or the location of a candy cane in a random vase, or even some of the paper snowflakes…brought back too many memories for him to recount in one holiday. He just had to think about a few pieces every holiday; that way, he could focus on the present time as he created it. After all, he was making memories now, wasn't he? Even with Bandana Dee, and Kirby, and Meta Knight…these times would all be memories one day, wouldn't they?

Dedede entered his room, noting a photo in a Christmas-themed frame. The picture displayed him and his friends in a Christmas food-fight, flinging cheap, wax sprinkles at each other while they were all still sticky from snacks. The penguin couldn't help but crack a grin.

_Who said I needed to be 'home' to enjoy the holidays?_

Kirby and Meta Knight would probably come over sometime soon, as well…and the Dees here surely wouldn't let the holidays pass by without throwing a celebration of their own…Maybe there were enough people left for him, after all…

_Yeah, who said I needed to be '_ _**home'** _ _for the holidays? I'm already home, right here._


	3. Meta Knight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Meta Knight invites himself over for three days of free dinner because why pay for your own meals.

"YOUR MAJESTYYYYY!"

Dedede sat up in bed, groaning. Was someone calling him? At this hour of the—

"YOUR MAJESTY, IT'S GROWING DARK OUT!"

_…well, there's nothing wrong with taking afternoon naps, is there?_

Where was that coming from? Outside his room? But, there was no one at the door… Dedede glanced around, wondering where—

"Majesty, look at the _window_."

The king's gaze instantly snapped to his bedroom windows to see that someone was, indeed, there…though he couldn't see who. From their voice, he had a general idea, however…

"Why didn't you use the front door?" Dedede asked, raising an eyebrow as he unlocked the windows. "How long have you been out there?"

"I've not been out there for long."

A sapphire puffball swooped inside, circling the king's room in a lazy glide as he took in everything on the floor, on a shelf, and anything in between. Dedede held his hand out for the puffball, as if inviting him to come closer.

Instead, the puff turned his flight path toward the penguin, and gently lighted down in the palm of the king's hand. Despite the limited space, he still attempted to kneel—well, as best he could, for his species. Kneeling was a real problem for _all_ species in Dream Land.

"Hello, your Majesty. I apologize for being away for so long, but—"

"Yeah, yeah; you probably had a project or something and you delayed it till the last minute," Dedede dismissed, as if this sort of thing happened on a regular basis. "So what brings you here today?"

Meta Knight tilted his head. "I thought I would visit you for Christmas. Is that bad? Have I interrupted something?"

"Meta! You're like…" Dedede glanced at his calendar. "…three days early. Are you just going to stay here for the snacks or something?"

Meta Knight pushed his mask onto the top of his head, staring up at his king with a slightly disappointed expression. It was then that Dedede suddenly remembered what species he was dealing with—particularly when he heard the high pitch of the puff's voice when he spoke.

"Your Majesty, I—"

"Nope. You don't even have to answer that question. I'm just glad you're here, Meta. Seriously."

The penguin set the puff on the ground and trotted back toward his bed, and the sapphire puffball followed him. Dedede threw himself onto the bed, bouncing a time or two from the impact. Chuckling, he turned to see what Meta Knight would do.

…

The sapphire puff simply spread his wings, jumped up to the bed, and landed gently on his feet. The king didn't even feel him land.

"Boriiiiiiiing!" Dedede rolled over next to the puffball. "Meta, you _never_ break any rules. You're no fun!"

"Why would I break the rules when I could push them to their limits or exploit their loopholes?"

The king paused. "Hm. Good point." Then he shrugged. "But at that point, you're just a few steps away from breaking them anyway, so I don't bother myself with all that. If I'm gonna do something nobody likes, it isn't gonna make much difference whether I hide behind some rules or not, is it?"

"I suppose not. But I still prefer to keep within the rules, if possible."

Meta Knight tapped the king's arm with one of his wings, and the penguin rolled over so he could make eye contact with the puffball. It was quite awkward being one of the largest creatures in the castle, and even one of the largest creatures of his subjects. Sure, there were a few creatures who were somewhat bigger than he was, but that was getting into cute elephants and fiery lions. He interacted with his friends and the people of his kingdom far more than those other aforementioned creatures did. Perhaps that was why he was so aware of the size difference?

Although, it was fitting that as the king, he towered over his subjects in size and strength. It was a much better feeling than being a simple figurehead who just sat around making orders all day, and had to have his subordinates do all his fighting for him. Dedede didn't particularly enjoy battling monsters _by himself_ , but if he was in a group or had at least one other person with him, even if they weren't fighting, he felt a lot more secure. He could defend himself if _need_ be, but as for fighting tyrannical abominations…he preferred to have someone else with him. Dedede was used to having people around him all day; to not have someone he could call at any time drove him insane. It had to be Kirby's fault. Kirby felt the same way, so it _had_ to be his fault.

Maybe.

Ignoring the fact that he'd always felt that way, even before the pink puffball arrived.

Especially ignoring the fact that he'd felt that way before Kirby was probably even _born_.

"Whatever, Meta. Say and think what you want, but you're still a goody-two-shoes."

The sapphire puffball gave him an annoyed glare.

Dedede held his hands up in defense. "Hey, not sayin' there's anything wrong with that. You can still be cool, you know. Uh, _you're_ still cool, you know."

Meta Knight sighed. The king poked the puff's cheek. "C'mon, do you want some hot chocolate? A snack, or something? I have cookies, too…"

The puffball's eyes almost instantly lit up, though his expressions of excitement were quite subtle. Meta Knight spread his wings, leaping off the bed and gliding over to the open door…landing on top of it. Dedede clambered out of bed, walking over to the door as the puff jumped off the door. He bounced on his tummy before landing upright, standing at the door as he waited for his king.

"I'll follow your lead, your Majesty," the puff hinted respectfully.

Dedede simply took the door, closing it behind them. "Because you don't wanna get lost. Whatever, Meta." Pause. "And, y'know…you can always call me 'Dedede', if you want…or a nickname, or something. You let the Dees and me call you 'Meta', so…"

Meta Knight thought for a moment.

"I could, but considering my role, it would be improper, your Majesty."

"Oh." The king sounded almost disappointed, but had learned that Meta Knight was incredibly stubborn unless he was mentally shattered, and he highly doubted that the puff was feeling that way tonight. Not because he could easily read what the puff was thinking, but because Meta Knight's focus on negative emotions rarely lasted more than a day, and he only snapped occasionally. Still, Dedede had learned a bit from hanging around with puffballs for several years, and he'd noticed that if they were experiencing particularly strong emotions, the aura around them felt somewhat different, as a result from the black hole inside their bodies. If either Kirby or Meta Knight weren't noticeably happy but were emanating that feeling, he would know that something wasn't right.

"But, considering that I've been calling you 'your Majesty' for years, it would feel awkward calling you something different."

Dedede snapped back to Meta Knight's conversation, cracking a grin at that. "Ah, so the _real_ reasoning comes to light…"

The puff merely shrugged. "But considering that I've known you for years now, if you'd like me to call you 'your Ma—'…well, 'Dedede', then I will make my best efforts to call you that, your Ma—Dedede."

The king nudged the puff's cheek lightly, grinning. "Well, thanks, Meta. Y'know, I like that rule-following thing of yours now…"

* * *

_"You won't be lonely forever, Dedede…" The queen of Dream Land patted her son's head, smiling. "King Dad and I will give you some little brothers to take care of. Okay?"_

_"Could I have two brothers? I want two brothers 'cause I like even numbers," the prince rambled. "And then I want a best friend, too! Then I'll have brothers AND a best friend! Can I have them, mommy? When can I meet them?"_

_"That's a surprise, Dedede. But I promise you, you can have two brothers and a best friend, okay? As long as—"_

_"Yes!" Dedede cheered. His mother quickly hushed him._

_"As long as you agree to look after them, like a good big brother would do. You can play with them, and you can all help each other, but since you'll be the big brother, you have to look out for them and take care of them when they need it, okay? You're the oldest, so you'll be smarter and stronger than them. Mommy and Daddy can't be around to look after you all forever, so as the future king of Dream Land, when you meet your brothers and your best friend, remember to look after them for us, okay? Promise me that."_

_The little prince put his hand in his mother's. "I promise, mommy! I love my brothers and my new friend already!"_

* * *

His mother, being a century or two old, could probably make hot chocolate better than he could. As a matter of fact, his mother would have made better hot chocolate, _and_ she would have made Meta Knight eat a proper meal before he got his cookies. But Dedede was quite soft when it came to caring for his friends, and so he'd let Meta Knight have free range over whatever desserts he happened to find in the kitchen pantry. He hadn't turned around to see the puff's plate yet, but he could only assume that it would be ridiculous when he saw it. 'Extreme' and 'Meta Knight' tended to fit well in the same sentence.

"Didja want marshmallows, Meta?" the king asked, reaching for the bag. "Or would you rather have whipped cream?"

"Whipped cream, please."

Instead, the penguin strolled over to the refrigerator and grabbed a can of whipped cream. He rarely used it, so he'd originally bought the cheap kind. However, after learning that his friends enjoyed it, he'd bought some made with better ingredients, and just instructed the Dees in the kitchen to make something interesting for him with it. Like a parfait. It was so simple, yet he'd enjoyed it.

Ah, speaking of parfait, himself, and Meta Knight, that brought up a funny story. It actually made the king smirk as he spread whipped cream over Meta Knight's hot chocolate.

Dedede, being an only child raised by caring parents, had learned to try and eat pretty much any type of food introduced to him. He was always willing to try new foods; even weird things perked his interest. After the Lor adventure, however, he'd learned that his sapphire companion held completely opposite food viewpoints. Meta Knight, used to eating the same cheap food off a space base, would not eat anything that contained ingredients he hadn't tasted before, and his diet was mainly composed of meat, sugar, flour, and dairy. Excluding tomato paste and fruity candies, the puff would not eat any 'plant life', and he'd made it very clear that persuading him to each such disgusting plant life would be an impossible challenge.

So one day, after having one pizza too many, Dedede decided that he'd give that impossible challenge a shot. It _was_ rather difficult to think of a good approach, as Meta Knight recognized most edible fruits and vegetables on the planet, and he was too observant to slip something into his food without telling him. Instead, the king sliced up a banana (as they weren't blatantly-recognizable in pieces), mixed it up with some chocolate pudding, cake cubes, and whipped cream, and gave it to the puff under the name of a parfait. When questioned on what the 'mystery pieces' were, Dedede stated that they were similar to the balls of 'future space ice cream' that were all the rage in big cities now, and that they were his latest trend, so the puff was obligated to try them since his king was eating them and they were popular.

Much to his surprise, Meta Knight did not recognize the bananas and actually consumed the entire parfait. He still enjoyed chocolate parfaits to this day, actually.

The banana trick lasted for about two weeks before a Dee slipped up and let the puffball know that he was being deceived. Much to the king's dismay, once the puff labeled the bananas as 'plant life' instead of 'artificial ice cream', he refused to eat them, sending the penguin right back to where they started. Dedede had picked on him for a long time, trying to persuade him to eat the bananas again, but so far, he'd been unsuccessful. It made it hard and awkward when they found bunches of bananas on adventures.

_Oh well._ _I'm **trying** to take care of them, mom and dad…_

Speaking of taking care of people, the hot chocolate had more than enough whipped cream on it now and would probably send any normal person into shock from the sugar content.

Dedede took his mug and Meta Knight's and walked back over to the kitchen table. By some Christmas miracle, Meta Knight had not taken an insane amount of snacks, and was nibbling on what he had rather slowly, considering he was a puffball. The duo ate in silence for a while before Meta Knight broke the silence.

"Thank you for showing me such kindness, your Majesty," the puff offered politely. "I could have helped you make the hot chocolate, you know…"

"What? Oh, no! It's no problem, Meta; seriously. I like cooking."

No way he'd let his friends know that he _enjoyed_ taking care of them. He'd be slaving in the kitchen all day for some baby puffballs. But as long as he hid the fact that he was taking care of them, he should be okay, right? Taking care of his friends, fulfilling that promise he made, and having a good time. Even if he had to pick on pink puffballs to keep up his image.

…annnnd it looked like he'd have to add 'telling puffballs to eat their food' to that list of things he was supposed to be doing.

"…Uh, Meta; if you need me to grant you permission to drink your hot chocolate, I grant you permission to drink your hot chocolate. I don't think it tastes bad, so finish it before it gets cold."

Dedede had to try his hardest to hide his grin as he watched the puffball climb onto the table so he could lick some of the whipped cream off. He'd tried to get some better chairs in here, but it seemed they were still a little too short. He probably should have chosen a normal-sized cup instead of one that was the same size as his special, oversized cocoa cup (and therefore, about the same size as Meta Knight), too. That might've helped. Dedede turned over one of the metal cookie containers and pushed it over to the puff's cup. "Try standing on that, Meta. It might help you."

"Thank you, your—Dedede." The puff pulled himself onto the cookie container, taking a large mixing spoon and stirring the hot chocolate as he licked the whipped cream off the top. The king had given him such a generous serving that most of it still hadn't melted, and much to Meta Knight's dismay, his face and cheeks were soon covered with the fluffy topping.

"Your Majesty…" the puff began slowly, blowing on the hot chocolate as he stirred it. "…Why…do you treat me with such care, despite knowing that I'm…likely more mature than the rest of your companions? I'd assume you'd just leave me to take care of myself."

"Why would I do that to one of my little buddies?" The king made a face. "It's not about ignoring you because you can do things on your own; it's about being nice to you because you're my friend. I thought you'd know that, Meta." He reached for another box of fancy Christmas cookies and offered them to the puffball. Meta Knight inspected them critically before choosing the largest chocolate cookie. "…you aren't hurt or anything, are you? You usually ask those questions when something's wrong."

"I'm all right," the puff answered, swallowing the cookie. "I just…thought I'd ask. It's…It's nice when people are nice to you, your Majesty…"

The king poked Meta Knight's cheek, wiping some of the whipped cream off. "It's 'Dedede', Meta. Not 'your Majesty'. And I'm _always_ nice to you, _aren't I?"_

"You attempted to set me up on an _evening out_ with that ice princess last week," the puff muttered, sipping some of his drink. "I thought I told you that I'm not interested in such things right now."

"Awwww, but your cheeks were so _red_ , Meta." Dedede smirked as he saw the puffball's expression. "More purple, but hey, you're lookin' about the same right now as you did then. And she was hitting on you in the beginning, so you should've accepted the offer."

"I told you, I'm not interested in that sort of thing right now," Meta Knight repeated, burying his face in the whipped cream. It was only a few seconds later before he reached back for the cookies.

"But I'm plenty nice to you outside of that, Meta. Like, I'm nice enough to take away your cookies before you get sick for the rest of the night."

The puff simply glared at him from the side of the whipped cream mountain.

"You're lucky my mom isn't here, Meta. She'd make you eat some real food before she gave you _any_ of those cookies," Dedede said, eyeing the puff's plate. Meta Knight stared back up at him curiously, finally able to make eye contact with him after polishing off the whipped cream.

"What…What were your parents like? If it brings up bad memories, you don't have to answer…"

Dedede leaned on the table, taking another sip of his hot chocolate. "Well, Meta…" He sighed. "I don't remember much of them. Not much important stuff, anyway. I remember a lot of us playing together, eating tons of different stuff—which you really should have been there for—"

Meta Knight made a face at such implications.

"…uhhh, let's see…We played golf and croquet. Dad tried to teach me some chess, but then the Waddle Dees ended up teaching me the rest…They gave me that slide in my room, and we always had parties and celebrated stuff together…But I don't remember the important stuff. Like, I remember my dad—well, he was the king at that time—had a few formal events, where he had to represent as the king. But I don't remember much besides how he looked dressed up, y'know? And they didn't tell me much of the family background either, or why they moved here…I guess they were waiting till I was older. But they loved kids. They liked rules, too. They probably would've been right up your alley until they broke out some lettuce and stuff."

The puffball didn't answer at first, instead studying the king's expression. Just as he was about to say something, Meta Knight _did_.

"You miss them, don't you…?"

"Of…" The penguin couldn't help his melancholy expression. "Of course I do, Meta. I wish they were here right now, to spend Christmas with us. I mean, I know your caretaker really loved you, to let you stay with her and her husband and family, but your circumstances just aren't the same as having parents that you were born from and were attached to before you even knew anyone else besides them. It's like…if your caretaker left you, after you spent your whole life with her. Like if you knew her and trusted her completely for longer than you could remember. _That's_ how I felt about my parents."

He didn't see Meta Knight frown often, but he was now. The puff wore a sympathetic expression as he continued staring at the king in silence. Dedede felt as if he should continue, so the quietness would be gone, but he couldn't think of anything else to say—

—until he felt a puffball's paws grasping his gloved hand.

"I'm not skilled at comforting people, your Majesty, but…I'm sure your parents didn't want to leave you, either…"

The king had to look down to meet the puff's gaze. His silver-colored equipment and sapphire skin matched the shades of the silver-and-blue decorations on the kitchen's walls, some of which were older than the puff himself. Not that he'd know that, but Dedede did, and could recall which decorations those were.

"I'm sure they intended to tell you that later, but…at the same time, if it was particularly important for you to know, they might have left you a note or letter somewhere to inform you of such topics. Of course, they may not have. If they didn't think it was incredibly important for you to know why they came here, or what their origins were…they wouldn't have left anything behind unless they expected you'd be curious. But surely, your parents had to have some memorabilia left behind from parts of their lives. Try searching their belongings—if you still have them. Some of your Dees may, if they were old enough."

Dedede blinked. "I…I never thought of that, Meta. Thanks. I don't really know what they did with Mom and King Dad's stuff."

He gently rubbed the puff's cheeks with his thumb to show his gratitude. Dees, and apparently puffballs, rubbed cheeks to show friendly affection. Due to his size, the king had adopted simply rubbing their cheeks with his fingers instead of bending over to ground level to rub cheeks with them. Not to mention that having a beak made things a little awkward at times.

Meta Knight's wings twitched a few times as he backed away and almost literally dove into his hot chocolate cup, polishing the liquid off true to puffball nature before strolling casually across the table, back toward his king. How the puff could absorb so much caffeine and sugar was beyond him.

"You're welcome, your Majesty. I'm glad I could give you some decent advice, in return for what you've given me. I know we've all had our…rougher times throughout life, but I'm certain your parents would be satisfied with where you've ended up. You've become a good ruler over the years…especially compared to the ways other kingdoms have headed."

"Well…" Dedede grinned, reaching between Meta Knight's wings with an ungloved hand. The sapphire puffball lay down on the table; there was potential that the king might pet—erm, _politely_ _stroke_ him. "I think it was nice of you to say that, Meta. …Thanks."

When he'd first met Meta Knight, he'd never imagined in his wildest dreams that the puff would let anyone touch him, much less intimately pet him. Meta Knight was rather quiet, and avoided social interaction unless it was related to business (or other puffballs). However, as time went on and he'd become friends with the puff (and saved his life a time or two), Meta Knight had gradually opened up to him. It turned out that the puff was actually quite affectionate with people he trusted-though admittedly, it had taken a _long_ time to get to that point. Meta Knight had a lengthy list of moral qualities for people to check off before he'd trust them, one item being that he had to know the person long enough to acknowledge it was _solid fact_ that the person was genuine in their qualities and not putting on a façade. Reasonable considering that Meta Knight...hadn't had the best of companions in life, but rather difficult when the puff was mortally wounded or suffering from hypothermia. Dedede knew these things. Mainly because he'd been around when they'd happened.

Not to mention that, as adorable creatures and high-class fighters (of which some puffball families worked exclusively for royalty), most puffballs were accustomed to and enjoyed being petted by the people whom they were sworn to protect. Meta Knight's wings began to relax as Dedede stroked his back; not too hard, but not soft enough that it would tickle.

"You're welcome, your Majesty," the puff murmured, eyes closing halfway. "You're our king, after all…"

Dedede blinked.

_Huh? Yeah…I **am** their king. Hmph, didn't really feel like it today, too much. But it's true. I'm the guy in charge of this country, and a few others. Ultimate ruler and guardian of all the people in those countries. Doing what my mom and dad used to do, back when they were…around. They did such a good job. Although they didn't have as many countries as me to take care of, then. _

_Ultimate ruler and guardian of all the people…_

_…wow, that job sounds WAY bigger than any one person can handle. I'm glad I have so many employees to deal with all that for me. I can't take care of everyone at once…but, y'know, I can take care of **some** people at once…_

_…_

_Mom…Dad…if you're out there...have I been doing a good job of taking caring of my 'little brothers'?_ He pushed the puff's mask off the top of his head so he could continue stroking him. _I…I know you never got to give me any, but…do my friends here count? I've been trying my hardest for you…_

_It's…not really been easy. It always seems like a lot of the time, Kirby gets all the attention, Meta is the smart guy who's always right, and Bandana is just inwardly cringing at how dysfunctional we all are. Where do I fit into that? The strong guy? The oldest one? The king? That guy who always gets into food fights with Kirby? I wonder how **they** think of me?_

He could always _ask_ …but, would he get an honest answer? From Kirby, maybe, but from anyone else, unlikely. Dedede was aware of some of his flaws, and no matter how true an insult was, he just didn't like it. Even if it wasn't meant to be insulting.

_Who cares…I've got my little buddies here, and if they didn't like me, they wouldn't keep coming back to me. And they **especially** wouldn't work for me or run off to save my life on a whim. Did you have friends like this, Mom and Dad? I remember seeing a puffball and some Waddle Dees in your old photos as a kid…_

Something light brushed his arm, and Dedede started slightly at the sensation…until he realized that it had just been Meta Knight's wing. The puff had closed his eyes at this point, and the king noticed that his breathing was softer. The penguin glanced over to his clock.

**_10:00 PM_ **

_Is it really that late? Heh, not late for me, though. Mom and Dad, I hope you don't mind me staying up so late all the time. If you still meant for me to have a bedtime at this point, uh, I'm sorry…_

_Why am I even thinking to myself like this…Mom and Dad can't hear me anyway. I've just gotta live with what I've got. And I've got some Waddle Dees, some friends, a ton of castles, kingship, and…_

_And Mom and Dad's old photo albums…_

How ironic it would be, if his parents interacted with adorable, space-alien puffballs like he did. Dedede didn't remember exactly how he'd learned it, but the puffballs did enjoy it whenever he petted them, and he knew the spots they liked to have rubbed. The same went for Waddle Dees…so…What were his parents really like? Had they known… _somehow_ …that things would eventually end up this way…?

_I wish you'd told me more about you, Mom and Dad. But I guess I was too young to really understand any of it, much less remember it._

_I miss having you here…_

_But instead, I've got my friends here with me._

At this point, Meta Knight had completely relaxed and was splayed out on the table in front of him, mostly asleep. There was a slight chance— _very slight_ , of course—that he may have even been drooling. Dedede gathered the puff into his robe, put his glove back on, picked up their dishes, and started heading back to his room. The Waddle Dees could wash everything in the morning. Or the night, depending on when they got started cooking holiday feasts.

The king yawned as he strolled down the hallway, dragging a sleepy puffball in his arms with him. He'd assumed the sugar in the whipped cream would have had more effect on Meta Knight, especially considering the mountain of it he'd topped the cup with, but apparently sugar didn't do much for the puff anymore. Dedede had seen the puff at work on his projects that he did for extra money—he consumed a few jars of candy and some other sweets to get started, worked through the project, and then ate another serving as his reward for finishing. Dedede had tried the same thing, but only ended up with a stomach ache. It made him wonder how the puff could eat all that without any negative impact at all—although, he hadn't hung around to see the after-effects of those sugar doses, so perhaps it wasn't as it seemed.

Dedede pushed open his bedroom door and turned on a dim light, much to Meta Knight's apparent dismay. He could tell because the puff rolled over in his arms and almost kicked him in the ribs.

_Am I seriously going to go to bed this early? There's gotta be a horror movie or something on to watch!_

…nah. It wasn't fitting to watch horror movies around Christmas, anyway. He could just get up early tomorrow and annoy the chef Waddle Dees and Meta Knight.

The penguin set the puff down in his pillows, changed into his pajamas, and climbed into bed. Admittedly, Meta Knight still had a room set up in this castle, but after sharing confined tents and caves with each other and two more adventurers, he was sure that the puff wouldn't mind sleeping with him tonight. The Dees had put so many pillows on his bed tonight that the king was sure he'd never find the puff—or awkwardly crush him in his sleep. Or suffocate him by accident.

"G'nigh', Meta…" Dedede mumbled, pulling the covers over his head.

_And…thanks for tonight, too…_


	4. Kirby

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kirby tries to be agreeable with Dedede after almost mentioning his dead parents.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For those who haven't played Squeak Squad, this chapter makes use of its bubble mechanic, which is basically just that the puffs can keep items in their…insides(?), so long as they're bubbled.

Everything was going to plan—Dedede's plan at least. The cheesiest Christmas music he could find was playing over the castle speaker system, with no way for anyone to change it without setting off the fire alarm. Glittery decorations were hung over the walls in such density that walking around could potentially blind someone. All the packages scattered throughout the halls had been picked up and neatly organized in a gigantic pile that took literal weeks to sort through. Bandana Dee finally convinced his family to come and celebrate at the castle for once. And most importantly, a solid 80% of Dedede's staff were devoted to making celebratory meals and snacks for the occasion. Aside from the fire alarm going off and nearly soaking everything, nothing had gone wrong.

…except that Kirby had come over unexpectedly in the middle of everything.

"Hey! That's MY fridge! You get your pink puffy butt outta there!"

Kirby's grin grew even wider as Dedede chucked a pillow his way, barely missing him and the fridge. The puff scurried off into the hallway to indulge in some fruit punch as Dedede stormed over to the fridge, checking that none of his expensive wines had vanished from the back of it.

"Kirby, you better be glad my Christmas generosity is in effect; that's the only reason I'm halfway okay with you being here."

"Kirby is friendship," the puff chirped from outside the door, peeking in just far enough to see how annoyed the king was. So far, it didn't seem to be too much. He'd have to work on that, just to make things interesting.

"Stupid marshmallow. You're the reason all this happened to begin with," Dedede grumbled, shoving a pack of microwave corn dogs out of his way. "I'm only so attached to you because we keep getting dragged out on adventures. ONLY REASON!"

Kirby grinned. "Yeah, you owe me one! We're all friends now!"

"How wonderful," Meta Knight deadpanned, scrolling through more documentation articles.

"Hey, Adeleine prepared that game exactly for us; you just don't appreciate it," Dedede sassed, juggling the boxes of cards the painter had sent him. "I thought it was a _great_ game with _a lot of fun_."

Adeleine usually stopped by the castle to visit the king for Christmas, but this year was a centennial event on Ripple Star, which the quartet themselves would attend a few days later. The fact that the month-long party overlapped with Christmas only amplified the amount of prep work, and Adeleine had been staying over with Ribbon for weeks now. However, she hadn't neglected her old companions on Popstar. A package had arrived at the castle a week ago, with some snacks, a note and drawing, a rock with Dedede's face painted on it, and several boxes of playing cards labelled 'Cards of Humanity.' At the end of the note (which Dedede wouldn't deny melted his heart), the painter scribbled down some directions on a game to play with them. The premise was relatively simple; fill in the blanks of one card with other cards drawn by players, and come up with the best suggestion. It seemed very innocent, but the artist claimed that any species who played it would grow closer to their demise, as humanity had before them.

It seemed a dark joke for the last human to make, but after starting the game, Dedede realized pretty quickly why she'd made the parallel. Especially when he invited some of the Dees from the kitchen and janitorial staff to play with them.

After the first game, Meta Knight was absolutely mortified, choosing to retire and eat nachos to save his dignity. Bandana Dee had wanted to bail out as well, but Dedede refused until he'd done the second part of Adeleine's game suggestions: play the game, but act out your suggestion via charades. The new game mode was wildly well-received from the staff, Kirby, and the king himself. Bandana Dee hadn't been thrilled, but agreed to give it a try for his friends. The Christmas music hadn't matched too well with Dedede performing a traditional mating ceremony a foot from Meta Knight's face, but his acting was good enough that a few of the janitors got the reference within a few seconds.

The second Dedede confirmed it was the correct guess, the knight tried to disembowel him with a plate of nachos. He seemed to be the only one who was particularly miffed; Kirby and the kitchen workers loved the performance, some of the chefs even beating on pans in place of applause and whooping. Bandana Dee's face was possibly the reddest it had been in his life, as he tried to blend into the background away from his coworkers. It was too late though; the damage had already been done.

Kirby squealed in delight.

After a few rounds of insane stupidity, it was time for the staff to continue preparing food and hanging up even more decorations. Everyone filed out of the king's room, with the promise to bring him back some food and drinks. Dedede caught Meta Knight and Bandana sighing in relief in the background, but decided not to say anything for his own safety. He wasn't concerned about Bandana Dee, but Meta Knight wasn't under a clear contract with him, and he knew the knight's snack sauces were so hot they could probably cause burns. Definitely not speaking from experience.

"Well now that we've enjoyed that present, do you guys have some presents for _me?_ " the king asked, grinning slyly. "It's gonna be hard to top that one, not gonna lie. I'll be thanking Adeleine for days about that."

Meta Knight took a few seconds of his life to give Dedede a tired glare before returning to his near-infinite supply of nachos. "Christmas is tomorrow. You have no patience in the slighte—"

"I got one I got one!" Kirby shrieked, bouncing around in circles at rapid speed. "I got one; here it is!"

The pink puff came to a jerky stop in front of the king, pausing for a second before reaching into his mouth and pulling out a transparent, drool-covered bubble with a present inside. This was followed by several other bubbles, all containing the same thing. After popping all the bubbles, Kirby proudly stepped back for his friends to claim their presents. Instead, Dedede made a face at him.

"…No matter how many times you puke stuff up instead of just putting it in a bag or something, I still think it's disgusting."

"I thought you said there was _one_ present, Kirby; not multiple ones you liar," Meta Knight quipped, giving the other puff a bored glance.

"He just puked up presents, and _that's_ the thing you're concerned about?" Dedede rolled his eyes. "Weirdo."

"You act like it's such an abnormal thing to do." The knight pulled a book from his mouth in a similar style to what Kirby had done, but with no drool. "It's not; he's just immature about it."

Kirby drew himself up, standing on the tips of his feet. "Oh look at me, I'm Meta Knight and I'm soooooo mature. You can tell because I have money and don't say 'gonna.'"

The knight didn't even bother looking up from his book. "I'm more mature than you can ever hope to be."

"Whatever." Kirby stuck his tongue out at the other puffball. "I'm going off to the kitchen to get food."

Dedede double took as Kirby walked out past the presents that he'd just spit out in front of the doorway, before chasing the pink puff down the hallway. "Hey, I—wait just a second there, pinky! That food is for my grand and glorious Christmas five-point-oh feast!"

Behind them, Meta Knight and Bandana Dee sighed in relief of pure, temporary silence.

"Kirby! Where do you think you're going, you little—" Dedede tripped over his feet as he realized Kirby hadn't wandered far, standing in awe of some decorations nearby. "Oh, you like that?"

The pink puff continued staring, focused on a giant, detailed tapestry of some architecture and mountains in White Wafers. While it was rare for people to travel to the area for anything other than research and resources, the mysterious ancients had left some beautiful structures in place, which was a great source of inspiration for painters. The creators of the tapestry, however, recaptured the scene with various materials, glowing fabric, and a generous amount of glitter. The amount of detail was beyond impressive…

"Y'know, that's one of my favorites. Don't mess it up," Dedede grumbled, nudging the puff away from it with his foot. Surprisingly enough, Kirby went along with it and continued walking.

"I won't mess it up. It's really pretty. Did someone give it to you? I bet someone gave it to you; you're not into making things like that. Who gave it to you?"

"My parents gave it to me," Dedede muttered, glancing away from the puff.

Kirby frowned, sensing the shift in mood, and decided to switch the conversation topic…very abruptly.

"Meta's so annoying sometimes," Kirby whined, reaching into his mouth and pulling out another bubble. This one contained a giant box of candy canes, which he promptly tore open and began consuming. "We've been friends so long, and he still can't lighten up and chill out! That's why I'm glad I'm friends with you; you're interesting."

"Mighty generous of you to keep calling the king of a country your friend, pal." Dedede reached down and grabbed one of the candy canes. "These candy canes do help your proposition though. Gimme enough of these, and I might let you become a janitor."

"Janitor? I wanna be a cook!"

"I ain't letting you in the kitchen! Are you serious? I know how that's gonna end up!"

"Yee, it'll end in great food!" Kirby chirped. "You've had my cooking; even Meta said it was good, and he hates everything!"

Dedede crossed his arms. "Hmmmm. I guess. But I don't trust you not to eat it."

It was at that moment that the penguin king remembered they were walking to one of the castle kitchens in the first place. Despite his annoyance, he decided it would be better not to vocalize it to Kirby.

And despite his better judgment, when they came to the kitchen, he pushed open the door instead of letting Kirby walk past it.

Dedede sighed as he walked in, tired from the day, the month, the past year of adventures; meanwhile, Kirby dashed in, dropped his candy canes, and made a beeline to the fridge for milk. The king picked the box of candy canes off the floor and took a seat at one of the tables, glad that his kitchens were fancy enough to accommodate more than food processing.

"What you making, pinky?"

Kirby inflated, hovering up to some cabinets and beginning to tear through them. "Hot chocolate! I'm gonna make a big batch and we can all have some, even Meta and Bandana!" He slammed some of the doors. "You want peppermint in some of them? Where are my candy canes?"

Dedede threw the box at him. This time, his aim paid off and he pegged Kirby in the back. The pink puff completely ignored any potential aggression, giving him a huge smile. "There they are; thanks Dedede!"

"You're much welcome, pal," the king answered, grinning slightly as he saw the puff rubbing the impact. "Your catching skills need a little work though. You transformed into Baseball Kirby lately?"

"Huh? No." Kirby blinked. "I can do that though. Think it'll help with cooking?"

" _Nonononononono, not in the kitchen,"_ Dedede answered quickly, jumping off the chair just in case something chaotic started happening. "I think Cook Kirby or something would be a great addition here. Not baseball. Not in my castle, at least. Go out in the courtyard for that."

Kirby gave him a small frown. "You didn't say that when we tried to play baseball in _my_ house."

"Your house is tiny. You ain't got anything to clean up. I got an entire castle here; come back when you're an adult, which will be _never._ "

The pink puff didn't respond, but he stuck his tongue out. Dedede smirked.

The kitchen was silent for a few minutes; the penguin and puff occupied with their own thoughts, before Kirby eventually started up the chatter again.

"You want whip cream?"

"…it's _whipped_ cream, Kirby; you should know that."

"It's the same thing." The puff turned around, whipped cream in hand—very close to his mouth. "And I'll eat it all if you don't want it."

"You give me that, you little—put that down! We have meals to prepare!" Dedede yelled. "But yes. I also want sprinkles and crumbled peppermint, about a teaspoon please. And marshmallows. And if you have any of that caramel sauce, put that in as well. Some around the edges, and then drizzled over the whipped cream. Get to it."

Any normal person may have been phased by this, but Kirby seemed generally unsurprised. He prepared the cups at rapid speed, shoving a particularly large one toward Dedede. To the king's surprise, there didn't seem to be any pranks involved. The puff had followed his directions exactly, even though he intended them to be a joke. He had no qualms though—he hadn't had caramel hot chocolate in a while.

"You've been surprisingly well-behaved today," Dedede commented, taking a sip of the hot chocolate. "And this is actually pretty good. What's up with you? Not causing any mischief?"

"Who, me? Cause trouble?" Kirby gave him an innocent grin.

"Yes, you."

The puff shrugged. "Well, I just wanna celebrate with my friends. We're all together and nothing's exploding, and I don't have anyone else to celebrate with. So even if this music is really cheesy and your face is stupid, I wanna make my friends happy!" He glanced at the floor. "Because…I know not all of us are a lot, anymore…and I just made jokes about your dead parents…it feels kinda bad…so I wanna make things super funny again, and I figured it'd be rude to do that by pranking you again! I guess I could do it by singing…"

Dedede's eyes shot open immediately. " _No._ "

"You're not fun," Kirby pouted.

"I used to be fun, and then some pink alien landed in my front lawn and got in the way of things." He took another sip of the cocoa. "I like the blue alien better; he actually repairs stuff around here instead of nuking it."

"He nuked you in our video games this morning though."

"Shut up; you didn't win and that's all that matters."

"Yeah, you need a few pity wins to balance out all the wins I've taken."

Dedede stood up, grinning cockily. "Wanna go at it? Wanna go? I'll meet you in the main courtyard, punk. Oh, I've got a _real_ Christmas present just _waiting_ for you."

"Yeah yeah! After the cocoa though." Kirby dumped the entire cup of cocoa in his mouth and swallowed it at once. "You ready? Oh, we still have to bring these to Meta and Bandana…I guess we should do that first. Then they can drink cocoa while we battle each other! I should make them popcorn too, I guess…"

"Go take the cocoa to them; you need to tell them we're fighting anyway." The king waved his hand toward the door. Kirby started to move toward it for a moment, but then hesitated.

"…we fight a lot. Are you sure we're still friends?"

Dedede sighed, but his expression was surprisingly sympathetic.

"Kirby, we fight so much it's part of a routine or something. I gotta be able to defend my kingdom, you gotta be able to defend the universe. We gotta stay in shape by facing off against worthy adversaries or we're gonna start slacking, y'know? Get your butt up there so we can practice sparring for whatever Christmas monster is gonna pop up outta the fireplace."

Kirby continued staring at him.

"…don't make me say we're friends. We're rivals. And we're gonna keep it like that, okay?"

Stare.

"I'm not gonna."

Stare.

"You're gonna make their hot chocolate all cold."

"That's your fault."

"If you don't move, I'm gonna throw something at you and spill that hot chocolate all over y—"

"Your silence means a yes!" Kirby taunted, running around the corner before anything could happen. "You just don't wanna admit you _love meeee!"_

Dedede waited until the puff's footsteps faded from earshot before letting out a breath of relief.

_You know, Kirby, for a friend, you sure push things pretty far. Merry Christmas, buddy. I guess this'll count as our Christmas present if the fishing equipment I bought you isn't enough._

A crash echoed from down the hall, along with some Kirby shrieks. Dedede peeked out to see an explosion of cocoa, a terrified Bandana Dee, and an extremely annoyed Meta Knight staring at a pink blob on the floor.

"…KIRBYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!"

"Oh man, I-I can get a mop and clean it up, no problem!" Bandana Dee interjected, about to run off. Meta Knight stepped on his foot.

"No, you let him clean it up. It's his fault he never _looks_ where he's _going_. He's gotten away with this ten too many times for my liking, and left every single one of those messes on _my ship."_

"We can all clean it up together," Kirby quipped, smiling innocently despite knowing full well what he'd done. "Power of friendship!"

"Oh, joy. When I think of friendship, I think of mopping the floor. Precisely," Meta Knight complained.

At this point, Dedede had strolled up to the mess, taking in the full region of disaster. It wasn't too bad, but the gracious portions of caramel didn't help Kirby's case.

"…you know, I hate to say this, I really do. But Kirby's right," Dedede said, watching as everyone's expressions changed to some form of complete surprise. "The holidays are for spending time with your loved ones. People you care deeply about. Your true friends, when you have no family. Or even if you do, in Bandana's case. So I think we should spend our time together…"

Meta Knight scowled.

"…by making _HIM CLEAN IT UP, hahahaha!"_ The king grabbed his knight and Dee under his arms, dashing off to the courtyard. "Have fun with that caramel sauce, Kirby! Better be ready to challenge me; if you forfeit, it's as good as losing!"

Meta Knight was snickering. Bandana Dee was staring. And behind them, Kirby was still standing over the mess. The king was pretty sure it wouldn't end easily, but it didn't really matter at this point. By the time Dedede reached the courtyard, he couldn't even be too upset that Kirby caught up and smacked him over the head with a wet mop, although Bandana Dee certainly looked pretty concerned. Meta Knight was still laughing.

_Ah, Christmas. Yup, this is the kind of celebration with my friends that I live for._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I hope you guys are having a great Christmas, despite circumstances. This is a pretty odd circumstance for me as a Kirby writer, because this last chapter is technically my last piece of Kirby fanfiction for what might be eternity; I'm not sure. On FFN I left a long post because it's true Kirby closure there, but I've barely crossposted anything here, so y'all have still got a long queue of writing coming your way. If you're wondering why there's a huge contrast between the first three chapters and this final one, that's why--this chapter was written a few hours ago, and the rest of it was written way back in 2016 when I was still innocent and believed that if you worked hard, you could do well in engineering school (what a joke amirite boys). 
> 
> But regardless of that, I hope you're enjoying the holidays. Most of you probably are because compared to previous years, they should be significantly quieter, more peaceful, and more free of annoying relatives who barely know you and want to complain about their life. But if not, maybe you enjoyed some part of this fic? Whatever the case, wishing you the best!


End file.
